DAWN.COM | Sport | Golf: Pakistan qualify for World Cup, make history
PETALING JAYA, Malaysia: Mohammed Shabbir and Mohammed Munir etched their names in the history books as they guided Pakistan to their first Omega Mission Hills World Cup on Saturday.
The unheralded Pakistani duo shot a superb three-under-par 68 in the final round foursomes at Seri Selangor Golf Club to finish third at the Asian qualifier, which was won by pre-tournament favourites Singapore.
Represented by Lam Chih Bing and Mardan Mamat, Singapore carded a closing 72 for a four-day total of 15-under-par 269 to finish one shot ahead of Philippines pair Mars Pucay and Angelo Que.
The top three qualify for the World Cup, which takes place in China in November.
A World Cup appearance continues to elude the Malaysian pair of Iain Steel and Danny Chia as they ended fourth after a battling 71 while Myanmar finished a further three strokes behind following a 74.
‘Pakistan have played in the cricket World Cup, hockey World Cup and squash World Cup but never before in our history that we’ve been in golf’s World Cup,’ said a delighted Munir.
‘I don’t know how to describe how we feel right now. I’m sure everyone in Pakistan will be very happy,’ he added.
Pakistan mixed their scorecard with four birdies against two bogeys before nailing a crucial final birdie on the 18th hole to seal a historic debut against the world’s best.
Leading final-round scores on Saturday at the Omega Mission Hills World Cup Asian qualifier (top three teams qualify for World Cup):
269 - Singapore (Lam Chih Bing, Mardan Mamat) 64-71-62-72
270 - Philippines (Mars Pucay, Angelo Que) 60-72-66-72
274 - Pakistan (Muhammad Shabbir, Muhammad Munir) 68-73-65-68
276 - Malaysia (Danny Chia, Iain Steel) 66-74-65-71
279 - Myanmar (Zaw Moe, Soe Kyaw Naing) 67-73-65-74
284 - Hong Kong (David Freeman, Wong Woon Man) 66-72-67-79
286 - Bangladesh (Milon Ahmed, Siddikur Rahman) 69-74-69-74
293 - Indonesia (Maan Nasim, Sarmilih) 69-77-72-75
296 - Sri Lanka (Lalith Kumara, Anura Rohana) 70-77-68-81,
296 - Nigeria (Christian Utubor, Edet Umoh) 70-80-69-77
308 - Ghana (Theophilus Kodjo, Emos Korblah) 74-81-75-78
309 - Brunei (Faiz Damit, Pengiran Hassanal) 74-77-77-81
332 - Mauritius (Rajesh Mohun, Jocelyn Savrimootoo) 77-89-74-92
DQ - Nepal (Ramesh Nagarkoti, Pashupati Sharma) 82-84-75
Well done boys, we need these sort of performances to show the world that this is THE REAL face of Pakistan.
:k: